Khaled M. Mostafa

Probing the molecular level of polyimide-based solvent resistant nanofiltration membranes with positron annihilation spectroscopy

Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) has been performed to link fundamental polymer properties to membrane performance, more specifically for polyimide (PI)-based solvent-resistant nanofiltration membranes. Laboratory-made membranes with well-known properties were applied first to define proper pretreatment conditions for the membrane to allow PAS-analysis and to allow more correct linking of PAS results to membrane properties. This knowledge was then applied to probe the structure of commercial PI-based Starmem membranes.

Influence of carbon on the microstructure of a Fe-Mn-Si-Cr-Ni alloy

The influence of the addition of C to the Fe-Mn-Si-Cr-Ni base material is investigated at room temperature. Steel samples were deformed during a tensile experiment up to a strain of 17%. Light optical microscopy (OM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) gave information about the different micro-structural phases that exist in the deformed and the undeformed alloys. The evolution of the defect structure is followed by positron annihilation techniques such as Doppler broadening of annihilation radiation spectroscopy (DBAR) and the positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). During deformation a martensitic ε-phase is induced. The size of the martensite plates increases with increasing deformation.

Defect evolution during annealing of deformed FeSi alloys studied by positron annihilation spectroscopy

High silicon steel is widely used in electrical appliances. Alloying iron with silicon improves its magnetic performance. A silicon content up to 6.5 wt. % gives excellent magnetic properties such as high saturation magnetization, near zero magnetostriction and low iron loss in high frequencies. Their workability is greatly reduced by the appearance of ordered structures, namely B2 and D03, as soon as the Si content becomes higher than 3.5 wt. %. This limits the mass production by conventional rolling to this maximum percentage of Si. In this work a series of FeSi (7.5 wt. % Si) samples with different degrees of deformation are investigated with positron annihilation spectroscopy and optical microscopy (OM). The influence of annealing on the concentration of defects of different deformed FeSi alloys has been investigated by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and Doppler broadening of the annihilation radiation. OM is used to investigate the microstructure of deformed samples before and after annealing. The values of the S parameter present a decrease for all studied FeSi alloys with the increase of the annealing temperature, being attributed to a decrease of the concentration of defects. A sudden increase of the S-parameter value at 600?°C was observed for all samples, which could be related to the change of the ordering of the FeSi alloys at that temperature. At 700 °C, the values of the S parameter decreased drastically and starting from 900?°C, they became constant. The microstructures of the alloys, investigated by OM, show that recrystallization is completed at 900?°C and the samples are mainly free of defects, which is in agreement with the positron annihilation lifetime data.

Positron Implantation and Transmission Experiments on Free-Standing Nanometric Polymer Films

Positron transmission experiments were performed on free-standing poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA) and polystyrene (PS) films of nanometric thicknesses made by spin coating. The power_law equation z1/2(E) )=(α/ρ)En was determined from the measurements of the S-parameter as a function of the positron implantation energy. These transmission experiments indicate that n = 1.90(±0.08) and α = 1.33(±0.10) μg cm-2 which deviates from the values found by Algers et al. (n = 1.71(±0.05) and α = 2.8(±0.2) μg cm-2) and the commonly used parameters (n = 1.6 and α = 4.0 μg cm-2).